Another Babri Mosque like episode in India is in the making

As stated by the National Geographic, India dated 21 March 2019, for decades now, the Hindu Right has laid claim to the land of the famous Gyanvapi mosque in the Vanarsi city (also called Kansi), of the Utter Pradish state of India, based on the allegation, that, “in 1669, the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb had razed the original Kashi Vishwanath temple at the centre of the city and erected a mosque atop it, named as the Gyanvapi mosque. The current structure of the temple was built on an adjacent site about 10 metres away from the mosque.

As per the Caravan, India dated 27 April 2019, the famous Gyanvapi mosque is an old and historic worship place of the Muslims, that shares a boundary wall with the Kansi Vishwanath temple, which is otherwise located about 10 metres away from the mosque. The mosque and the temple, both are located on the western bank of the river Ganga.

TheKansi Vishwanath temple is widely recognized as one of the most important places of worship in the Hindu religion. A visit to the temple and a bath in the river Ganges is one of many methods believed to lead one on a path to Moksha (liberation). Thus, Hindus from all over the world try to visit the place at least once in their lifetime.

The temple gained renewed importance, when in early March 2019,prime minister Narendra Modi arrived in Varanasi and laid down the foundation stone for the Kashi Vishwanath temple corridor project, as he intended to contest elections from the Venarsi Constituency. Then, on 26 April 2019, Modi filed his nomination papers for the then ongoing Lok Sabha elections from the Varanasi. This corridor will comprise of a wide pathway from three prominent ghats of the river Ganga to the Kashi Vishwanath temple, easing access for devotees visiting it.

As per the Indian media, since early 2018, when the Uttar Pradesh government had set the corridor project in motion, the state has cleared 45,000 square feet of land surrounding the temple, demolishing about 300 homes and shops and displacing 600 families in the process, despite their protests. Resultantly, now a flattened plateau of land has been created around the Kashi Vishwanath temple. Besides the temple, the only building left there is the Gyanvapi mosque.

While the major powers’ leaders have always been concerned about the violation of human rights in the world over, in the case of India’s rampant HR violations against the Muslims in India and Kashmir, they are surprisingly silent due to their commercial and strategic interests linked with India

The Hindus’ claims to the Gyanvapi mosque site, has not materialized, because, the cases filed in courts by the Hindus and the Muslims have not been conclusively decided and the status quo is being maintained through a stay order of the Allahabad High Court. The position of the Muslims on this issue was further strengthened by the passage of the 1991 Act for Places of Worship (Special Provisions), which states that all religious sites would be maintained as they were on 15 August 1947.

However, in view of the corridor being constructed, although the Indian government has not officially stated its position regarding the Gyanvapi mosque, all signs indicate that with the corridor project, the Sang Parivar activists (RSS and Shiv Sena), will be encouraged to demolish the Gyanvapi mosque, like the Babri mosque, to have an exclusive compound for the Kansi Vishwanath temple.

The above perception gets strengthened in the light of the Modi’s recent speech made in Calcutta, where he said, “From Kashi to Coimbatore, Lord Shiva is everywhere,” before unveiling a statue of the deity. On 8 March 2019, during his foundation stone laying ceremony for the temple corridor at Venarsi, he had stated that the project had freed Shiva from the clutches of the surrounding buildings. Pointing to the old Muslim rulers in India, Modi added that for centuries, “enemies had their sight on this site and many a times, it has been attacked.”

It is a unique time of the history. While the RSS dominated Modi’s India is out to destroy the Muslims’ holy relics/mosques with impunity and it has also carried out rampant human rights violations in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir, with the curfew having been clamped there for the last 46 days, the Muslim states in the Middle East are honouring Modi with titles and allowing the construction of Hindu temples on their land.

Moreover, the apathetic attitude of the international community towards Modi’s muscular policies against the Muslims is surprising and unfortunate. While the major powers’ leaders have always been concerned about the violation of human rights in the world over, in the case of India’s rampant HR violations against the Muslims in India and Kashmir, they are surprisingly silent due to their commercial and strategic interests linked with India.

In view of the above situation and to face the evolving threat posed to the demolition of the Gyanvapi mosque and other holy places, it is advisable that, in coordination with the other minorities in India, the Indian Muslims should get united to protect their religious and other human rights.

The writer is a former Research Fellow of Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), Islamabad and Senior Research Fellow of Strategic Vision Institute, Islamabad